Roman Xinzo: the seated statues and the ivory piece

The old quarter of Xinzo de Limia has been the subject of many archaeological test pits ever since a good cartload of Roman remains appeared. The best-known finds are the seated statues and, since 2016, a medieval ivory piece ^[1][2].

The seated statues

On the Cortiñela estate, in the Regueiro area, two seated statues appeared measuring 0.68 and 0.71 m high and 0.41 m wide at the torso, now in the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Ourense. They were found headless and seated on a kind of chair. Both figures wear bracelets (viriae), of two rings on one and three on the other; one has a torque at the neck and the other must have lost it with the head; one seems to hold two jars in its hands; both wear a tunic with a triangular neckline ^[1].

According to Xosé Ferro Couselo (1972), they are Roman, probably of late Roman date, because the chair proves it and pottery of this period appeared near them. Elixio Rivas argues they are Celtic, because the clothing, jewellery, tunic, bracelets and torque are Celtic attributes ^[1].

Santa Mariña: a necropolis over a Roman settlement

In a 2000 excavation on Leopoldo Álvarez street, behind the parish church, a tegula grave appeared, which would be part of a necropolis set over an abandoned Roman settlement, as in Xusto Rodríguez’s excavation at the neighbouring church, where the tegula necropolis (3rd–4th centuries) covers late-imperial buildings of the 3rd century. The Roman settlement seems occupied from the 1st to the 3rd century. In the excavations of the church of Santa Mariña, between November 1995 and February 1996, directed by Manuel Justo Rodríguez, graves and remains of earlier buildings also appeared ^[3].

The 2016 ivory piece

In March and April 2016 an excavation took place on Santa Mariña street, numbers 4–6. The Limia archaeologist Manuel García Valdeiras summarises the context: a hypocaust had earlier been seen at number 6; in 2012 test pits at 12 Rúa da Igrexa revealed Flavian-period structures (1st century); and since 2002 the interventions show Xinzo’s importance as a Roman settlement, with altars to Reve and Cybele, the two seated statues, a milestone and Roman masonry ^[2].

The Roman remains of these two plots were levelled by the construction of modern housing, but study of the material showed a Flavian occupation and a medieval and modern jumble where the ivory piece appeared, one of the few examples of medieval ivory working in an archaeological context in Galicia ^[2].

The piece is 5.5 cm high, has a base of 5 × 2.5 cm, a triangular profile and a schematic face of 3 × 2.5 cm. By its shape, size and stability it seems a chess piece, probably a pawn, of imported ivory and therefore reserved for an elite. No medieval parallels are known in Galicia; in the museum of Ourense cathedral there are eight Fatimid chess pieces of the 10th century, in rock crystal, and the best-known medieval ivory in the province is the Virgen Abridera of Allariz ^[2].

Links

• History of A Limia
• Xinzo de Limia
• Prehistory and castros
• Churches and religiosity of Xinzo

Sources

1. «Estatuas sedentes de Xinzo de Limia», Historia de Xinzo, 8 de setembro de 2021. https://historiadexinzo.wordpress.com/2021/09/08/estatuas-sedentes-de-xinzo-de-limia/
2. «Peza de marfil de Xinzo de Limia», Historia de Xinzo, 13 de marzo de 2019 (extracto de Manuel García Valdeiras). https://historiadexinzo.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/peza-de-marfil-de-xinzo-de-limia/
3. «Breve historia dos cemiterios de Xinzo de Limia», Historia de Xinzo, 21 de outubro de 2021. https://historiadexinzo.wordpress.com/2021/10/21/breve-historia-dos-cemiterios-de-xinzo-de-limia/